


Red Shell, Blue Shell

by tonystork



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Dad!Tony, Gen, I Love You All, Iron Dad, Nightmares, Other, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter is a Little Shit, Some Swearing, Spider-son, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, but tony loves him, characters may be ooc, god bless whoever reads this fic, i spent many nights writing until like 4 in the morning, i tried to make this angsty but then i got excited and got too happy for once whoops, peter wakes tony from a nightmare, tony loves his sticky boi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-25
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2019-04-07 18:35:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14087100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonystork/pseuds/tonystork
Summary: “You’re gonna get it one of these days, kid. I swear. Sleep with one eye open. Clint’s not the only prankster in the Avengers.”It was because of the jokes surrounding the floor of the tower that Tony forgot to lock his door.ORAfter a nightmare-filled sleep, Tony figures Rainbow Road's got nothing on him.





	Red Shell, Blue Shell

“Mr. Stark, that’s unfair!” Peter whined as Tony ran him off the road again with his kart.

“Unfair my ass, you had it coming with that blue shell.” Tony snarked back, jutting his shoulder into Peter’s and causing a small laugh to escape.

“I only threw the blue shell because you hit me with a red one.” Peter raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Take that, old man.” Peter laughed giddily as he rocketed forward in the game. Tony put a hand to his chest in mock hurt.

“Old man? Oh, I’m coming for you. Watch your back, Parker.” Tony said sarcastically as he waited for a certain red-shelled power-up. He grinned maniacally just as Peter realized what he was doing. Shouts of ‘no’ and ‘don’t you dare’ came from Peter as Tony pressed the button to send the virtual turtle flying until- _veeerrm_. The screen went black. Both boys groaned.

“Friday-” Tony sighed in annoyance at his AI.

“Sir, it is vital for Peter to get at least eight hours of sleep per night. I have activated ‘Spider-Baby’s Sleepy Time’ protocol.” Tony’s smirk grew larger at Peter’s dead panned expression.

“Really, Da-I mean, Mr. Stark?” Peter confidence faded quickly as he fixed his speech. He sat up straighter and wouldn’t look the other man in the eye. It was a stark contrast to the relaxed and joking boy from a moment before. Tony tried his best to make his kid feel less awkward. It had happened to him, too, moments where he would be discussing Peter’s reports with Happy and accidentally call him his kid.

“Yeah, come on. You know you shouldn’t be following in my sleep deprived footsteps. Besides, I can totally beat you at Rainbow Road tomorrow.” Tony said, jokingly shoving Peter’s shoulder a little as he got up before lovingly ruffling his hair. Peter’s head moved with him as he stared at Tony with disbelief in his eyes.

“Have you even tried Rainbow Road? You’re going to die, only the strongest NPC’s will survive. Well, and me.” Peter said as he got up, twitching his eyebrow in a silent competition.

“Oh, come on kid, how hard can it be? The name has 'Rainbow' in it. Sounds like a piece of cake.” Tony said as he made his way to the bathroom.

“Yeah, coming from the man who’s never played it. This is going to be great.” Peter said as he followed his mentor.

“An why ish that?” Tony said over the hum of his electric toothbrush, slightly garbled from his words making his way around it.

“Because at least I’ve battled Ned in that round, I have a little practice.” Peter said as he started to brush his own teeth. “You’re dead.”

“Oh, you’re on.” Tony put his hand under the sink and splashed Peter with it before making a quick getaway to his bedroom with laughter in his voice.

“TONY, WHAT THE - oh goddamnit.” The noise of Peter rushing to clean himself up was disrupted by the distinctive sound of his heavy toothbrush hitting the floor.

“Hey, you better not break that, I paid good money for that!” Tony half heartedly yelled into the next room over and could almost feel the dead eyes he was receiving from Peter.

“Your fault!” Peter yelled back. Both boys started laughing as Peter made his way into Tony’s bedroom to say goodnight. His shirt was soaked with the water from the sink. It’s rather unfortunate that Tony had closed his eyes from laughing too hard, because the next thing he knew, he was being hit with water too. He opened his eyes in preparation to deliver the sarcastic line of all time, but Peter was already scurrying out the door with his cup in hand.

“You’re gonna get it one of these days, kid. I swear.” Tony called after him. “Goodnight, Peter. Sleep with one eye open. Clint’s not the only prankster in the Avengers.”

It was because of the jokes surrounding the floor of the tower that Tony forgot to lock his door.

 

* * *

 

_Peter...where was Peter? He had to find his kid, protect him from the aliens looming above his sky. Everything was moving too fast, it was going by in flashes of colour and bits of filmstrip._

_“PETER, WHERE ARE YOU?” Tony yelled, praying for a response. Finally, he got a glimpse of his curly hair, fighting off an alien that was obviously winning. Tony flew behind them and blasted the thing’s head clean off. Nobody touches his kid._

_“Peter, are you okay?” Tony asked, hands pushing his curls back to check for any cuts or bruises._

_“Yeah, I’m ok-” Peter was cut off by a large hand batting at him like a fly. Peter crashed into a wall, where he collapsed and didn’t get up._

_“No, no no no. Peter?” Tony flew to his side, not caring about the fact that Thanos was right there. Not caring until he realized that the purple prune was still trying to crush Peter. Tony snarled. “Get the FUCK away from him.”_

_Thanos leaned closer to him. “Tony, wake up.” His voice was an odd contrast to what his body was doing, his giant fist smashing down an inch from where Peter lay._

_“Get the hell away from my kid!” Tony yelled, firing a repulsor beam at the alien. He could barely hear the voice shouting “Dad!” as he fired again at Thanos, just as the mirage faded into a dark room._

“Woah! Holy shit!” Peter screamed as the blast nearly hit him square in the chest. Tony burst forward into a fighting stance in his bed and immediately destroyed the suit, whose hand was palm out and facing Peter. He had unintentionally called his old suit to his side in his sleep again, a glitch that he had thought he’d taken care of years ago. Peter could feel his heart beating hard and fast in his neck, throbbing behind his ears and making his vision spotty. “Oh my f-”

“Kid? What are you doing here?” Tony said, not quite understanding. He was glad as ever after waking up from that nightmare and seeing Peter alive, but more so confused as to why Peter was on the ground in his room in the middle of the night. Or why his old suit was attacking him.

“I-I just, I got up to get a glass of water, and then I heard you yelling in here for someone to get away, so I ran in here because I thought you were being attacked but you weren’t and-” Peter took a deep breath as his voice cracked. “I think you were just having a nightmare.”

Tony felt terrible. “Oh, kid I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to deal with my nightmares.” He stood from his bed to help him up, and it was only then that he took notice of the smoldering scorch mark going down his wall. His mouth formed the word ‘no’ before his brain could fully get it out. “Peter...did I hurt you?”

“No, don’t worry Mr. Stark, I moved out of the way in time.” Peter said in an effort to pacify him. Tony’s face mirrored the horror he felt inside. “It’s okay, really, I’m fine.” Peter enthused.

“No, it’s not okay. I could have hurt you. I could have killed you. You shouldn’t be around me, Peter. It’s not safe.  _I’m_  not safe.” Tony stressed, while Peter tried to hide the arm that was slightly stinging. He knew he’d missed the beam, but it was a close cut and now the pain was settling in. He needed to get out of there quickly, before Tony realized and felt even worse. Peter shook his head in disagreement as he tried to get up.

“Tony, you had a nightmare. Nightmares are normal.” Peter made it up enough to sit on the end of Tony’s bed without passing out from the mix of adrenaline and the worsening pain in his arm.

“Normal people don’t almost ki-” Tony shuddered and broke off as he looked Peter in the eye. “I promise this will never happen again, Peter.”

“Tony, I once kicked May’s side in my sleep. It’s fine. Well, I mean, you should probably fix that glitch, but please don’t beat yourself up. I’m not even hurt.” Peter said as he decided to push his luck and move. Tony grabbed his arm in an effort to help him to his feet, but the moment Peter hissed and fell back to the bed, Tony knew Peter was hiding something. Tony felt his blood turn stone cold.

“Peter, look at me.” Tony said in a commanding dad voice, one that his father would be rolling in his grave over. Peter found it slightly difficult since he was mostly seeing white pain, but he did as Tony asked. “What did I do?” He stressed every syllable of his question, guilt and regret shining in his frightened eyes. He was scared of what he could do to Peter. What he did do to Peter.

“You were having a nightmare, and you called your suit in your sleep.” Peter said, confirming Tony’s hypothesis. “I guess you were fighting off someone, because you fired your repulsors. Twice.”

“I was trying to protect you from Thanos.” Tony said quietly with a hand over his eyes. “Show me your arm, Peter.”

“I’m okay, thanks.” Peter said, get ready to flee the room. He did not want Mr. Stark to feel any worse, but at the same time he felt like he was going to throw up. He needed to get out of there.

Peter’s name coming from Mr. Stark’s mouth stopped him from moving. “Peter. Show me your arm.” Peter felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

“O-okay.” Peter stuttered, turning his body around to Tony. The moment he turned, Tony could not only see, but smell the burn on the kid’s arm. His gag reflex was threatening to erupt, but he managed to keep his nausea at bay for the sake of the kid. Peter’s pajama shirt sleeve had been burned and was still flaking off in pieces of ash. What was underneath it, Tony was glad the lights were still off for. He could see Peter in the blue glow of his arc reactor, but not much else.

“I’m so sorry, Peter.” Tony said, his voice laced with a sob. How could this have happened? Only a few hours ago they were worried about that stupid Rainbow Road, now he was trying not to throw up as he played back attacking Peter with the suit. Tony shook his head. Now was not the time for this, he had to bandage up Peter before his burn got infected. “Come on, kid. Let’s go fix up your arm.” Tony was careful not to touch the wound as he helped Peter into his bathroom.

“Mr. Stark, it’s okay. I can deal with this, you can go back to sleep. I didn’t mean to bother you in the first place-” Peter said, attempting to cover his arm back up. Tony looked at him incredulously. HE was the one that had hurt Peter, and Peter was trying to comfort him? Tony felt the anger for himself building.

“The fuck it’s okay, excuse my language. I hurt you, Peter. That is not okay. Not in any world, not in any realm. I’m supposed to protect you, not be the one you need protecting from.” Tony said as he grabbed a washcloth from his closet and soaked it in warm water. The rag splashed against the porcelain sink as Tony hung his head. “I’m-”

“I swear to god if you say you’re sorry one more time, I will beat your ass and not even feel bad about it.” Peter said as Tony lifted an eyebrow He was about to make a comment on the swearing when Peter spoke again. “We’re okay, Tony. I promise. I understand what it’s like to wake up and not know what’s going on or where you are.” Peter said honestly, the realization of his words dropping on Tony. The collapsed building was one of Peter’s more recurring nightmares, and he’d punched Tony in the face upon waking more times than he can count. It suddenly occurred to Tony that Peter was reassuring him like he always had for Peter. God, this kid was too good to be near Tony. He sighed.

“This is going to sting.” Tony said as he brought the antiseptic covered washcloth to Peter’s wound. He tried to be as gentle as he could, but the burn was bubbling white in response to the chemicals. With every new swipe, Peter’s grimace grew. When Tony finally replaced the rag with one of just water, Peter yelped at the feeling. After growing used to the antiseptic, the water felt sharper to his damaged arm. Unfortunately, due to his spider-senses, it hurt three times as much as it should have and while Tony could no longer smell the burn, Peter could. To him, it smelled like a perverse version of a barbecue. He felt his stomach clench at the image his brain provided him with.

“Kid? You okay? You look a little-” Tony was interrupted by Peter pushing past him to the toilet, where he promptly threw up. “Green. Okay, deep breaths, Peter. Deep breaths. That’s it.” Tony encouraged as Peter got rid of the remnants of his dinner.

“Okay, I’m just going to put some Polysporin on this and a bandage, okay Peter? Then we’ll get you back into bed.” As promised, while Peter was bent over the rim of his toilet, Tony slathered the Polysporin over his burn and put a large piece of gauze over it. He could tell the ointment was working as Peter relaxed. It was blessedly cool against his still burning skin. At the sight of Peter, curled against the toilet and hurt  _because of him_ , Tony felt tears brimming in his eyes. Happy was right. He’s not his father. He’s worse.

“T-Tony, could I…” Peter trailed off, weakly holding up a finger to give him a minute. “Sleep?” He managed to get out. Tony could tell from Pete’s ghostly white face, the way his eyes were drooping, and the fact that he was dry heaving, that he was going into shock.

“Yeah, kid. I’ve got you.” Tony held a cool cloth against Peter’s forehead until he motioned that he was ready to get up. Peter would have fallen back down if Tony hadn’t grabbed him and carried him the rest of the way to the bed. It was only when he was in it that Peter realized he wasn’t in his room.

“Mr. Stark, s’okay, ‘can go to my own room,” Peter mumbled blearily. Tony chuckled and ran a hand through Peter’s curls comfortingly.

“It’s okay, Peter. You know you like my bed better anyways, I’ve caught you napping in here before. Don’t worry kid, I’ve got you now. I’ve got you.”

Tony didn’t sleep the rest of the night. Instead, he stayed in a chair in the corner of his room, watching as Peter’s chest rose and fell with each breath. He felt horrible for being the reason it shuddered every now and then.

 

* * *

 

In the morning, Peter’s burn was almost gone. He didn’t think much of it when he woke up to the smell of Tony burning the toast for breakfast. As he made a grab for his bedpost to swing up from, he realized that this was not his bed as he fell off the side with a small yelp. Almost immediately, Tony ran into the room.

“Peter, are you okay?” He asked frantically, reaching a hand down to pull the embarrassed kid to his feet. Tony checked him over, brushing his hair back from his forehead and stopping at his damaged arm.

“I’m fine, Mr. Stark. I just thought I was in my own bed and it turns out, I really wasn’t.” Peter said easily, trying to ignore how Tony’s gaze was locked on the bandage. Peter decided to metaphorically and physically rip off the bandaid, and pulled it away from his arm to see the damage left underneath. Unsurprisingly to Peter, there was hardly even a mark. He knew his speed healing worked well, and whatever Mr. Stark had slathered on his arm had helped even more.

“Wow,” Tony murmured quietly as he hesitantly reached out to gently touch the area, but stopped himself at the last second. He’d still hurt his kid, even if he was alright. Tony would never forgive himself.

“See? I’m fine. Speed healing. Comes with the package deal of Spider-ing around.” Peter said lightly. “So, what’s for breakfast?” He asked as he made his way into the kitchen, slightly wincing as he banged his arm on the counter he passed.  _Goddamnit, Peter_. He hoped Mr. Stark hadn’t seen that.

“Well, since I manage to burn the easiest of breakfast foods, it’s either take out or cereal.” Tony’s voice sounded right behind Peter, making him jump slightly. He turned his head quickly to the side and followed Tony as he made his way over to the cupboard. He knew it was stocked with the good stuff, which was probably Tony trying to make up for last night. Peter felt bad. He really did understand why his suit had thought of Peter as an enemy, since he had just come barging into the room. He just hated seeing the man he admired beat himself up for something that wasn’t his fault. But Peter be damned, there was Lucky Charms, Frosted Flakes, all the sugary stuff Aunt May had always claimed was ‘too unhealthy for a growing boy’. However, May wasn’t here.

“I’m good with cereal, thanks.” Peter bit his tongue to keep his smile from overtaking his face, but Tony could see the dimples fighting their way out.

“Oh,  _sure_ , only because I let you have the crap that your hot aunt would kill me over.” Tony smirked at the way Peter’s mouth comically dropped open.

“Hey! That’s not...” Peter thought for a moment. “Okay, yeah, that’s true.” Tony rolled his eyes.

“So, what’ll it be, chief?” Tony threw boxes of cereals onto the counter for Peter to sort through. Peter held up the box of Lucky Charms and raised an eyebrow in question.

“Go for it.” Tony laughed as Peter lifted the box into the air like Simba from the Lion King. He observed with mild curiosity as Peter shook the box side to side instead of opening it like a normal person.

“Peter, what on earth are you doing?” Tony asked with concern evident in his voice. Peter paused for a moment before returning.

“If you shake it, the marshmallows go to the top.” Peter replied with a sly smirk. He’s pretty sure he heard Tony say something along the lines of ‘little shit’ before he reached over and opened the box for Peter. “Tony, I can open my own cereal.” He said while Tony dropped a bowl in front of him as well. Now Peter was suspicious. Good cereal and Tony is helping him out when he normally would have told him he had two arms to do it himself?  _Arms_...Peter felt like slapping his forehead.  _No wonder he’s doing all of this._

“Tony.”

“Tony, huh? Did we finally get passed Mr. Stark?” Tony said, lightly nudging the kid in front of him. Peter set down his spoon and looked him in the eye.

“Mr. Stark,”  _Damnit_ , Tony thought. Peter didn’t break eye contact with him. “I’m okay, Tony. Really. You don’t have to do all of this. It’ll be fully healed in like, an hour.” Peter watched as Tony downcast his eyes.

“That doesn’t erase what I did, Peter. I hurt you. I can never make that up to you.” Tony sighed heavily, although it did not help the way his chest seemed to get heavier with each passing moment.

“Actually, maybe you can.” Peter said with a shit eating grin on his face. Tony looked up at the kid and wanted to narrow his eyes, but didn’t have the heart to do so. “We could watch all of the Star Wars movies.” Peter said hopefully, puppy eyes pleading with Tony.

“Star Wars. Sure, kid, whatever you want to do.” Tony said, unwilling to fight the eyes that seemed to be staring directly into his soul, like a dog begging for food.

“All of them. And maybe be allowed to hang out in your lab?” Peter said in a rush, which took Tony nearly a full minute to decipher. As soon as it clicked, Tony’s expression changed to one that said exactly ‘are you shitting me’.

“No. Nuh uh. No way, the guilt train stops there. Peter, it’s too dangerous.” Tony crossed his arms and looked across the table at the kid.

“Come on! It wouldn’t be that dangerous with you there, right?” Peter was begging, both hands up to Tony and the eyes working double time. Tony could swear the kid practiced in the mirror during his time off. He could tell they were slowly wearing him down, so he looked away.

“No, Peter. I won’t let you get hurt down there.” Tony rubbed his left wrist as it started to ache.

“What if it was only like a couple days a week?” Peter didn’t let up. Unfortunately, Tony made the fatal mistake of looking into Peter’s eyes.

“Oh, for fu-OKAY, fine. But only a few days a week and when I’m with you. We’ll only be down for a few hours. Got it?” Tony said, striking a fair deal with the kid. He stuck out his arm for a handshake and was met with Peter’s strong grip and the happiest smile he’s seen on him in a while. Whatever hell was surely to happen down there was worth seeing that expression on his boy’s face as they headed down.

 

* * *

 

“You see what I’m doing here with the old wires in the - Peter?” Tony turned around to see Peter playing with Dum-E. He smiled softly at the pure happiness that was coming from both of them. Suddenly, a phone began to ring. Tony checked his pockets while Peter fished out the ringing object from his. Tony took notice of the way his face paled almost instantly.

“Oh crap, it’s May. I’m late and I’ve been here for way longer than we agreed, oh god.” Peter took a deep breath and readied his thumb. “Here goes nothing.” Tony laughed at Peter’s dramatics.

“Don’t laugh, she’ll have your head for this too.” Peter finally picked up the phone. “Oh, hi May...I know it’s really late, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize...I know you worry, I’m sorry…” Peter stood up and wandered around the room to some quieter areas. Tony watched Peter in amusement for a moment before looking to the ceiling. As it turned out, Peter was really enjoyable to work with.

“Friday, give Peter full access to this lab for any purposes. Except my suits. He doesn’t touch those. Actually, have Dum-E extinguish him if he tries anything.” Tony spoke softly so as to not disturb Peter. After a few minutes, the two made their way up to the living room, the boy still clearly trying to placate his aunt. He caught bits and pieces every so often, but mostly tried to stay out of Peter’s business. That is, until Peter called to him.

“Tony, I think I have to go home. Thank you for having me over,” Peter said. Tony looked at the clock. Midnight. They wasted an entire day down there? No wonder May was freaking out. However, it was much too late for Tony to send Peter off into the night.

“Pete, why don’t you ask to stay one more night? It’s no problem, I can send you right back home when you get up. It’ll be safer, too.” Tony said as he stretched on the couch. Tony noted the pops in his back as he moved. He was getting old.

“No, Peter, you come home right this minute.” It appeared Aunt May had heard Tony. Peter listened to her through the phone and let out a sigh. Peter walked into the room over and spoke again.

“May, please can I-”

“No, Peter. Home.” May said sharply.

“May, I am home. I just have two now, and I really like spending time with Dad.” Peter said. May paused at this. It seemed Peter hadn’t even realized his mistake, but it tore through May’s reserve, even over the phone. “May?” It was then that Peter realized why May wasn’t speaking.

“Fine. Okay, you can stay one more night. But I want you to call me when you get up, you hear me?” May said. Peter nodded his head before realizing she couldn’t see him over the phone.

“I will, May. I love you.” Peter swallowed.

“I love you too, Peter. Goodnight.” As May hung up the phone and he walked back to where Mr. Stark was sitting, watching him, he realized he probably wasn’t as quiet as he thought he had been.

“Mr. Stark, I-” Peter cut himself off to try to save himself from further humiliation. Instead, he found himself in a surprisingly warm hug.

“I like spending time with you too, son.” Tony said, reaching around the kid to grab the DVD behind him. It was rather difficult with a teenager wrapped around his body. “That’s not a hug, Peter, I’m just grabbing Star Wars.”

“It’s a hug, Mr. Stark. Just embrace it. Let it all out.” Peter said as he relaxed further into the hug. Suddenly it broke off as Mr. Stark playfully elbowed him away.

“Okay, I think we’re done here. Go get your blanket, Spider-kid.” Tony said as he playfully threw a pillow at Peter.

“IT’S SPIDER-MAN!” Peter said, sounding muffled through the fluffy pillow landing on his face.

“Yeah, yeah. Go grab your blanket, seriously, or I’m starting this movie without you.” Tony said as he started up the first in a long lineup of films. Peter ran into his room to grab his soft blanket and dragged it out with him to the couch. Tony lifted his arm for Peter to crawl under, a habit formed after many movie nights.

“What are you waiting for? It’s about to start.” Tony said, as Peter came to Tony’s side, where he pressed Peter against him comfortingly. Peter cuddled closer to him, tentatively putting his head on Tony’s shoulder. Halfway through the movie, Tony could hear light snores coming from the kid. Tony breathed out a laugh.  _Favourite movie and the kid can’t stay awake_. Tony pulled the blanket up closer to the boy’s chin and ran his fingers through his hair. Peter subconsciously leaned into his touch, feeling comfort in his father figure’s hand. Tony smiled at the kid he wished was his own.  _Take that, Howard. I’m nothing like you. He likes me. If someone like Peter likes me, how horrible could I be?_

“I love you, son.” Tony whispered to the kid. Peter stirred and Tony panicked, thinking he’d woken him up.

“...love you too, Dad.” Peter mumbled sleepily before falling completely against Tony’s chest and curling up. Tony felt his heart warm and his chest swell with pride. He allowed himself to gently lie back against the couch, moving Peter with him. Before he knew it, Tony had fallen asleep.

This time, neither one had any nightmares.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment on how you thought this fic went? Thank you all for reading :)


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